Pictures from SCGS

Guess What!?! FootnoteMaven just gave me permission to post the picture of us to my blog.

Woohoo. Such an honor to meet this lady. And she is the same sweetheart in real life as she is online, even more so. And what a beautiful lady too. I don't know why she uses her FootnoteMaven picture. But it was fun to actually get to see her and give her a hug. I wrote her on twitter a couple of days ago and told her she would have to come find me because I didn't even know if I was looking for a blonde or a brunette. And when she flashed me her nametag in the lobby yesterday, I felt like I'd struck gold. Soooo exciting to finally get to meet her.

Printed a great chart for Randy Seaver. What a file he has. To print the whole ancestor generations going out from him would have been 60+ feet. Wow. We all ought to be listening to him for advice.
Randy's and I think so much alike. His is one of my all time favorite blogs. It is amazing how you can feel so connected to people, think so much alike, talk to each other all the time, and yet have never met. Then when you finally do--it is so exciting.

And yesterday I got to be interviewed by Lisa Louise Cooke. We had such a great talk. Even after the recorder was off I felt like we could have talked forever. I'll let you know when the interview is posted.
I missed the blogger summit class this morning because I was teaching my Inherited Genealogy class against it. I've got to run now to the Facebook Meetup for the Geneablogger's group. I can't miss that too. I'll post more shortly. So many awesome bloggers to meet.

SCGS Blogger Summit.

I finally got to meet Thomas MacEntee! Been looking forward to that. http://www.geneabloggers.com/
Conferences are such a treasure hunt now for people I love and read all the time but haven't ever met.
Gotten to talk to Myrt, Randy Seaver, Denise Levenick, Sheri Fenley, Cheryl Palmer. Got to take more pictures. More to come.

Free Consults at Conferences.

I'm packing again. Looking forward to meeting lots of new facebook and blogging friends at SCGS. I'm wondering if everyone knows to pack their genealogy files?

We bring one of our 42 inch plotters to almost every genealogy conference we go attend. We do that so that our plotter can meet up with your genealogy file--and great things result.

Just bring us a copy of your genealogy file. ANY SOFTWARE (Ancestral Quest, Family Tree Maker, Legacy PAF, RootsMagic, you name it) on ANY FORMAT (USB drive, CD, Your own laptop, even a 3 1/4 inch floppy). Drop it off to us at the booth, come back after your next class, and we'll give you some options for printing things out. Then stop back later in the day and voila--a print of your file, as far as it reaches (or whatever part you want). We have done some huge charts at these conferences and not only is it exciting for the person whose print it is, it is exciting for everyone else to see too.

Check out our conference schedule. We are heading out to SCGS this weekend, and then will be going to Wyoming a couple of weeks after that. We'd love to check out your file and get it all out on a big chart for you.

Triathalons and Patience in Genealogy

You may be wondering why you haven't heard anything from me this summer about doing more triathalons. (I'm sure you were just wondering that.)

I fell in early March. It was one of those strange falls where you hit it just wrong. Well, I hit my left knee really hard. Flat on the cement. It didn't really hurt the day of, but then I could hardly walk for the next couple of days. I knew I had done something to it, but I didn't want to deal with it. My father's family has a thorough history of knee problems and lots of knee replacements all around. So I just went into denial, and didn't want to go there. I tried to exercise some, and thought I would just push through it. I still had a month or two before I had to be ready for the first triathalon I wanted to do.

Turns out--not such a great idea. A couple of weeks ago, I finally gave in and went to the doctor. I'm sure I aggravated it more by trying to keep going. I should have just taken it easy. The good news was that I have good cartilage--part of my father's family's problem. Bad news, my muscles were all out of whack from trying to limp around on it, and my knee cap is messed up. I went into physical therapy to move things around, but I have the patience of a gnat and still want to push it too far. So I'm working on it slowly and surely.

I'm sure there is a family history lesson in this. I think you sometimes just have to have patience. I taught my serendipity class in Colorado last weekend. I talked about how there are lots of stories about how strange things happen to come together to further a genealogist's work, and most genealogists have experienced that. Randy Seaver calls them Geneagasms. It was fun, and at the end of class I opened it up to the class members and heard some more great stories. In fact, there was kind of a relaxing sigh, that they could acknowledge these hunches, or coincidences without thinking it was only happening to them. But in relating some of those stories, I had to stop and caution the class, that you can't expect serendipitous things to happen. Genealogy--in my experience--really comes in fits and starts. You work and work and work and then you catch a break. In fact, the really good serendipity stories are so good precisely because someone has been working on the problem for many years, and then finally a miracle happened. You just have to have PATIENCE. Wish I was better at that.

Well, I can still relate triathalons to any experience. I've got to get back at them so that I can start braging about it again. "That reminds me of a triathalon I did once...."

Loveland Colorado Family History Expo

You know, I'm kind of at a loss as to what to tell you about this time. It was kind of the same old same old, but in a really good way. Love, love, love getting to meet people. Classes went well. Managed to juggle the booth and 2 lectures without Kim this time. Plotter hated me at first but then I figured it out. Great facility, and Holly's team was wonderful as usual. You really have to try one of her conferences. I hope we do Loveland on a regular basis.

So let me show you some pictures.

You know, over the course of this last year conferences have changed so much for me. It is now a treasure hunt for friends that I know on the social networking sites like facebook and twitter, or people who have commented on my blog. This is me and Laura Best. I was so glad she introduced herself because you look at someone, but you never would connect it most of the time. Or at least I don't. I'm a little dense sometimes that way. But I know Laura really well from facebook. And I was so glad that now I get to know her for real.

And this is Becky Jamison. Another great facebook and blogging friend. She came to my "Serendipity in Genealogy" class. That was a fun class this time because I was a little late starting and when I finished trying to catch up, I was actually done 10 minutes early. So I opened the class up to the participants to tell us about times they had experienced the "numinous" It was so fun to hear the comments. And it was really interesting--I think I felt a collective sigh of relief from everyone. Megan Smolenyak says that if you put 50 genealogists in a room, 45 have had some kind of funny coincidental happening in their research. But we hesitate to talk about it much because it seems so "out there." It is fun when everyone relaxes and admits that it happens, and you get to hear the stories. There are some great serendipity stories out there. I'm going to always end that class early so I can listen and not just talk.

And one of the highlights of the conference for me was getting to meet Diane McGinnis. I've known Ken and the other Legacy guys for a long time but have never had a chance to meet any of their wives. I had a great time talking to Diane. I hope sometime I get to meet Pegi, Dave Berdan's wife. I've talked to her many times on the phone but haven't ever gotten to meet her for real.






Sandy Booth also came and brought the cute kids. They explored the museums and the pools. I've been on that side of it--with the kids at a conference--and I can tell you with certainty that she worked harder than we did. Aren't they cute though? It's always fun to talk to Sandy.







I got to go to dinner with Lisa Alzo who was there to speak and Allison Stacy of Family Tree Magazine. We didn't get a picture but it was great to get to know them better too. Two really bright ladies. And we found an awesome barbeque place. "Serious Texas Barbeque" I hope we go back to Loveland just so we can eat there again. Looks like I was pontificating about something brilliant in this picture doesn't it? Thanks to Mike Booth for the picture.




And here are the cute Family History Expos ladies. Ready to eat some of that GOOOOOD barbeque. You would think they should look exhausted but they don't do they? Thanks again Mike.


So now it is back to work. We'll all do it again next week at SCGS ok? Come join us. I'll be excited to meet you too.

Vinyl

You get the news first in our newsletter.
New Family Reunion Chart Options

As we head into the summer, you may be looking forward to a family reunion. Generation Maps has all sorts of options for creating a family history chart that will be the center of your get together.

We have a new paper option that we are really excited about for family reunions this year -- VINYL. We have often been asked about a more durable paper for an outside gathering and we finally have an option for you. We have even seen people use this option for tablecloths and placemats (a great gift for the grandkids). With pictures or decorative elements, you can do some really fun things with this new option.

It is often hard to know how big a descendancy chart is going to be. When you send your file in for a FREE CONSULT, we can give you lots of options for creating a chart. You are welcome to use some of the popular genealogy programs to create your chart and then just send it to us for printing. But with all the practice we have had in printing family reunion charts, we can usually save you space over what many of the popular programs can do. Give our free consult a try, and we can send you the various size and pricing options for your data.

You may also want to visit The Chart Chick blog for the best ideas we have seen on how to display the charts. We have seen some great ideas over the years, and you can benefit from them here, and here. However you choose to do it though, you can create lots of great family history discussion, make everyone feel included, and even gather more information with a great chart. Use our free consult and we can make it much EASIER for you.

Salt Lake Family History Library promotes genealogy with your family

Just received this from FamilySearch. Kudos to them for getting the children involved. Hope you can take advantage of some of these opportunities.

Family History Library Sponsors

SUMMER of SLEUTHING

Are you looking for a fun activity to keep your children occupied this summer? Would you like to learn more about your family? Do you need a kick start to organize your family records?

“Summer of Sleuthing—Save Our Ancestors” (SOS) is a family summer activities program sponsored by the Family History Library to introduce families to the fun of family history. With a series of weekly challenges, families can participate in activities that will help them learn more about themselves and their ancestors. The program will also be available online at familysearch.org.

Summer of Sleuthing will begin at the Family History Library on Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Families are invited to come to the Library and register that day and participate in activities and classes. They will also receive packets to take home and complete. The challenges in the packets can also help youth in accomplishing goals in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Primary Achievement Days, Young Women, and Young Men.

As part of the challenges, family members are encouraged to keep a journal of their experiences and create memories together as a family. We encourage you to share this message with all families, both Church members and those who are not. We hope that this experience will bring families closer together as they gain an appreciation for the lasting treasures to be found in family history work.

Sincerely,

FamilySearch Support

Father's Day Sale

(another reprint from our newsletter)

"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love the most is soap on a rope." --Bill Cosby.

How about something for Dad this year that he'll really love: a representation of his family that shows off the results of all his love and sacrifices over the years.

10% off
ANY Generation Maps Product
Promotion Code: dadday10per
Expiration Date: 6/30/2009

Planting an Ancestor Garden.

A reprint from our newsletter. Sign up at the bottom of the Generation Maps Main Page.

I went out this week and gathered several vases full of lilacs to fill my house and office. My maternal grandmother Eila Dana loved lilacs and thus they are one of my favorite flowers too. With the smell all around me and everytime I look over at the bouquet on my desk, I remember her fondly. (That is her on the left).

We have planted all kinds of other plants in honor of our ancestors too. Some of them include:

• Tomatoes--for my Dad who loves fresh tomatoes from the garden.
• Beets--for my Grandfather Carpenter who helped prisoners of war weed beets during World War II
• Begonias--for my Grandfather Dana who always had beautiful begonias on his deck.
• Lilacs--for Grandma Dana of course.
• Tiger Lillies-- for Kim's Grandmother Anderson who had big clumps of them in front of her house.
• Impatiens--for Kim's mother who had them all over her front yard.
• Crocuses--for my Mother who got all excited that spring was coming when they would peek through the snow.
• Roses--for my Grandmother Hortense Carpenter who helped me make potpurri with rose petals from her garden when I was a child.
• Hollyhocks--from my Great great Grandmother Schwendiman's house where they posed for many pictures. (That's her in the picture right under the arch with her mother Great great great Grandmother Williams)

What plants run in your family? Plant a few this spring in their honor. Maybe even get some plant markers to show off who you are honoring. And then share them with your descendants. Happy spring!

Another podcast interview about Generation Maps

My Interview on the upcoming Logan Family History Expo.
Podcast here.

Conferences and lectures

I've been busy reviewing syllabus materials and submitting contracts today for speaking at conferences. Managed to get proposals off to 7 other conferences this week too (pfhew--wiping my brow). I'm giving three lectures tomorrow in Kemmerer Wyoming. Here is what is coming up as far as my speaking engagements go:

• May 2nd "Serendipity and other Miracles: Why you need family history." "Where to Start when you inherit Genealogy" and "Making New FamilySearch easier with Certified Genealogy Software" Kemmerer Wyoming Regional Family History Conference
• May 9th Generation Maps at Logan Family History Expo (not actually speaking, Pfhew--wiping brow again).
• June 12th and 13th "Serendipity and other Miracles: Why you need family history." and "Making New FamilySearch easier with Certified Genealogy Software" Colorado Family History Expo
• June 26th-28th. "Where to Start when you inherit Genealogy" and "Using Genealogy Charts to further your research." Southern California Genealogy Society.
• July 17th-18th "Serendipity and other Miracles: Why you need family history." and "Making New FamilySearch easier with Certified Genealogy Software" Wyoming Family History Expo
• July 28th-31st "Basic Research Practices in the age of New FamilySearch" and "Making New FamilySearch easier with Certified Genealogy Software" BYU conference on Family History and Genealogy
• August 28th-29 "Serendipity and other Miracles: Why you need family history" and "Digitally Enhancing your photos" Salt Lake Family History Expo
• And a few other small/private speaking engagements (wiping my brow with a dramatic flourish)
  

Sorry for the random capitalization and punctuation. I'm edited out today.

To register for these great conferences, check my previous blog post on the conferences Generation Maps is going to.

After Dick Eastman's review of NERGC's conference, we are thinking about striking out for Springfield Mass. in 2011. Congratulations to them on such success this year. I have agreed in the past with Dick's opinions on how to hold a good conference. And it sounds like this one (though a good distance for us) would be one to try. We'll look forward to that. Let us know if you are planning to be there too.

Making sure your family history work survives you.

Depending on what format your family history work is in, a library may or may not accept it. Stefani Evans wrote a good starting point article on this for the Las Vegas Sun yesterday. In reality, the situation is much the same as a personal or family history. If it is quality work, it will be valuable to someone and it will be preserved.

Take a look at the article:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/apr/30/correct-format-saves-genealogical-work/

An assortment of new resources

Browzing though the current Library Journal reviews I came across a few resources my Genealogist friends might be interested in. Take a look at these, or head over to your local library to see if they have bought them yet.

Underground Railroad: Encyclopedia of People, Places and Operations. 2 volumes 746 pages. Wouldn't it be exciting to find an ancestor in here? Maybe one of your family's towns is there.

Greenwood Encyclopedia of Courtship and Sexuality through history. 6 volumes. 1620 pages. I would like to look up some ideas on Swedish courtship and marriage practices in this one for some research we've been doing on Kim's family. Maybe it will help you with yours.

Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing through American History: 1900 to the Present. 2 volumes. 820 pages. This one would be helpful in identifying photographs. A new version of the full encyclopedia covering mroe time periods is scheduled to come out in Jan 0f 2010.

And a couple of website resources looked good too:

Documenting the American South: a digital libary of primary sources on the culture, literature and history of the South from the holdings at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Encyclopedia of Alabama. A well designed site developed by the Alabama Humanities Foundation and Auburn University. While I wish the history section was larger, the articles are well written and include good lists of additional resources. There is alot of history in all of the sections though, including cemeteries in the "geography and environment" section, and lots of biographies in the "people of alabama" and other sections. So use the search feature but browse around a bit too.

Hope one of these helps you get around a tough research spot. You never know where you might stumble across something.

2 good children's resources for writing life history.

Fletcher, Ralph J. How to write your life story. Collins, New York, 2007.

This book is a great 102 pages on making your life into a good story. An engaging book in a very readable format. (Good for adults too.)

• Myth#1 You have to be a famous celebrity
• Myth#2 You must have an amazing life
• Myth#3 You can't write your life story until you are old and gray
• Myth#4 Nobody will read it so what is the point.

In answer to the above, Fletcher writes that interesting stories happen to everyone. What really is important is how well written the history is.

The book includes interviews with youth authors, Jack Gantos, Jerry Spinelli, Kathi Appelt and how they turn life stories into books. It also includes good information about how to write well, including: finding a focus, thinking about form, the "so what?" factor, chronology, characterization, dealing with the hard stuff, and etc. Highly recommended.

Smith, Erica. Write it Down! A girls guide to keeping a journal. Rosen Central: New York, 1999.

This was a vibrant 48 page little book geared towards middle school aged girls extolling the virtues of keeping a journal. It suggests that journaling can help you keep your "brain sane" and help you look back and see how much you are learning. It can help you get through life's tough situations and give you something to confide in without being judged.

There are "Jump Start" ideas throughout the book giving hints about what to write about, such as:

• Describe 5 great things about yourself
• What is one memory you have from first grade?
• Describe a typical school day.
• Describe a typical day 15 years from now.
• Who is your best friend?
• What do you talk about when you are together?
• Pick a person in your family and describe your feelings for him or her.
• How did you view this person when you were little? How do you view him or her now?
• If you could be any animal, what would you be? Why?
• Write about a special day you spent together with your bud.
• If you could take a trip anywhere with your friends, where would you go? Why?
• Describe a time when someone was really there for you. What did this person say or do that helped you?
• Describe a time when you were disappointed by a person. Did you express your disappointment? If not, how would you do it now?
• How are you similar to each of your parents? How are you different?
• When was the last time you tried something new? What was it? How did it go? Would you do it again?

The book had a large focus on keeping your journal private and how to deal with it if someone invades that privacy. I also appreciated it's recommendation to talk to a real person if you needed help with certain situations such as depression, drug use, physical violence, etc.--not just bury all your feelings in a journal.

The book also recommended using your journal as a vehicle for self discovery in other ways, once you have entries to go back and read. For example:

• Read what you wrote 6 months ago and look for some clarity about who you are and where you are going.
• Have a friend or family write in your journal, or choose a section to read to them.
• Re-write a story from your journal into a short story, a play or a song
• Try explaining what you want to in pictures only, no words.
• Jot down ideas on any topic, just random.

There were several website resources listed in the back, but I wasn't really impressed--certainly couldn't recommend them here. The booklist looked much more promising. I'll let you know when I try them out. Other than the questionable websites, this was a great book for budding teenagers. Hopefully it will help in getting a few interested in their own personal histories.

Making Family History

Yesterday, I gained a new member of the family. My sister got married. I have a new brother-in-law, Colin, and my sister is the new Mrs. Amy Slade. We spent the day with my family, and with a whole new branch of the family, as well as extended family we don't get to see enough. It was one of those watershed days, where your life and family all comes into focus. One of those days that don't happen often enough.

The day was heavenly. She couldn't have had better weather. And the trees were just coming into bloom. All up and down the street were gorgeous flowering trees and a breeze came up early in the morning and blew some of the petals all over the driveway and the yard. It was like confetti over everything. Daffodils and tulips were everywhere. Dad is a wonderful gardener so you wouldn't have even known it was the first really warm week of the year. It was just the most perfect spring day I've ever seen--just what one would want for her little sister's wedding.

Probably so I could incorporate it into my blog, (grin) Amy integrated family history and the blending of these two families into the party. (thanks Amy.) For favors, she had the favorite cookie recipes from each of the new couple's grandmothers, their mothers and then a new recipe for Amy and Colin. They printed recipe cards of each for everyone as mementos and displayed wedding pictures of each of the couples. Literally, it was a sweet tribute to the families they come from.

We, of course, printed a bunch of giclees of the couple and of Amy's bridal pictures. You'll have to permit me for a minute to brag about how beautiful my sister is. These giclees we did were incredible. And we had a hard time deciding which to print. They all looked like a magazine shoot.

Ok. I'm done. But she is gorgeous isn't she? And the prints turned out so nice. I'm afraid that we got a little carried away, and that they will have more pictures of themselves than they will know what to do with.

Amy and Colin are both the youngest children in their families and Collin comes from a large family. So there were tons of nieces and nephews, in-laws and etc. The pictures that included the whole family were amazingly huge, reminding me of the turn of the century photographs you see of huge families. I spent the day pretty blown away by the changes in our family. We haven't had a wedding for 15 years and my family has pretty much stayed the same for that time. Now, our family relationships are changing, my younger sister is an adult, and the balance of nurturing will begin to shift. The span of a family never ceases to amaze me even though I work with genealogy every day. Life moves so quickly and passes from one generation to the next in what seems like moments. And all through it, those precious, sometimes choppy, always consequential relationships are really the only important things in life.

And there is nothing like a family wedding to make your life flash before your eyes. Yesterday I got to see second cousins once removed, great aunts, my uncles I don't get to see enough, previous teachers, old family friends, neighbors I used to see every day but haven't seen for 15 years, and lots and lots of the people who shaped me into who I am. I got to spend a little time thanking those people for the wonderful influence they have had on me, catching up on how everyone is and being grateful and overwhelmed at how blessed I've been. It is just amazing how much one life affects so many others, and how so many lives affect yours. As I head back to real life today, I hope I can let that perspective continue to guide my day to day actions.

Dear Myrtle announces a new blog

Got this from Dear Myrt today. I'm sure it will be worth reading, as is everything she does.
Take a look:

DearREADERS,
Well, after much anticipation and behind-the-scenes effort, Ol' Myrt here is pleased to announce the birth of a BRAND NEW Genea-Blog namely the Internet-Genealogy Blog featuring my take on topics presented in Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, Discovering Family History and History Magazine.

NOT TO WORRY
Ol’ Myrt here is not abandoning her own DearMYRTLE’s Genealogy Blog. You can count on me to continue to “opine” here on a regular basis. (Opine is a word Genea-Musing's Randy Seaver used recently to characterize one of Ol' Myrt's posts.)

WHY ANOTHER BLOG?
As if six to twelve DearMYRTLE blog entries each week aren’t enough, eh? Seriously though, all sorts of great things are happening in the magazines from Moorshead Publishing, Ltd. and I’ve jumped at the chance to spotlight the work of some mighty talented genealogy experts.

Hmm, does Myrt really “jump”?

You betcha. Just ask my grandchildren.

Visit http://blog.internet-genealogy.com today, and subscribe to the RSS feed using whichever blog reader you are familiar with.

The best part is they’ve turned on “comments” so you can freely share your feedback with the other blog readers. I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Your friend in genealogy.
Myrt@DearMYRTLE.com

Blog post about us.

Geoff Rasmussen just posted a great article about the fine art prints we do.
Take a look at
Publish your tree on artist's canvas.
You really have to see these giclee prints to appreciate them. They are beautiful. A real heirloom--like Geoff said. Hope his family enjoys it.
Thanks Geoff.

Sources 2

I'm all into source integrity lately. (Did you click on any in my last post? :-D) Here is another good link today.
Six Genealogy Myths to Avoid
Thanks Family Tree Magazine. Good Stuff.

Sheva the Fair, my most famous Great-Grandmother

For today's carnival of genealogy I've chosen to tell you about my most famous ancestor who changed the course of Jewish History. Sheva of Alexandria also known as Sheva the Fair.

Sheva is the seventeenth great-grandmother of my father's mother through my Sylvester, Streeter and Schram lines. She was born in 34AD in Alexandria, Egypt and brought by her parents to En-Gedi Israel in 45AD. From the extant sources we know that she grew up happily with her two older brothers there by the spring in En-Gedi where her father was a sandal maker.

Sheva changed the course of history in 74 AD when she was taken prisoner by General Lucius Flavius Silva, the Roman commander of the 10th legion stationed at Masada. As I'm sure you know, Masada was one of the last strongholds of the Jewish people after the fall of Jerusalem. As described by Flavius Josephus in his book Jewish War (7:143) the seige of the Romans against the Jewish Sicarians on the inpenetrable Masada was one of the great military standoffs in history. The Romans withstood the heat of the Negev desert to build 4 forts and lay siege to the fortress, eventually building a siege ramp of thousands of tons of rock which still stands today. According to Josephus (Jewish Antiquitites 2:434), the fortress walls were breached by the battering ram on 16 April 74AD where the Romans found that 961 of the 966 men, women and children who had occupied the mount had taken their lives in a mass suicide rather than be captured by the Romans.

The famous Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin discovered Sheva's papyrus codex journal when he excavated Masada in 1964. It was found with a primitive roman mirror, linen scarf and some high heeled sandals (only worn by Roman nobility.) The journal has shed much light on the life of the Roman soldiers and specifically Silva. While Sheva wrote of her growing love for Silva and their deep relationship, it also describes her gentle turning of his heart towards compassion and respect for the Jewish people. It is because of Sheva that Silva became a life-long advocate for the Jewish people. Through Sheva's journal that we know of Silva's response to the suicide at Masada, "A victory? What have we won? We've won a rock in the middle of a wasteland, on the shores of a poisoned sea." Tragically, while the fortress was under seige, Silva gave her the choice of returning to Rome with him or taking the means necessary for her to live independently of him. Rather than being a kept woman, she chose to take the wealth and soldiers Silva offered her and return to Alexandria. It was with Silva's money that she became one of the founding benefactors of the famous Library of Alexandria, one of the largest libraries in the ancient world. The sculpture above stands in the library courtyard. Later fragmentary sources tell of her finding love with Demetrius of Phaleron. While she had three children with Demetrius, including my sixteenth great-grandfather Theophrastus, it is known that she always felt her soulmate was Flavius Silva.

Much has been written and said about Sheva in the many books, articles and etc. about Masada and the Library of Alexandria. In fact, Sheva was portrayed by Barbara Carrera in the 1981 movie Masada. Barbara met with me and my grandmother to do research for the role early in 1981. She ended up doing an ok job I think but didn't really capture the beautiful grace of this amazing woman.

Genealogical information on my father's mother's mother's line is from Ancestry's One World Tree and these personal websites.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes.

I've made a family recipe for a bunch of my genealogy friends lately and thought I would share it with you. This recipe is from my Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother-- my great-great grandmother Ethel Amelia Williams. The fact that she was born in Salt Lake City, Utah 15 Feb 1880, and died there in 23 Mar 1973 is deceptive. She lived most of her life in Idaho--specifically Idaho Falls. Her husband Fred Schwendiman was born 28 Jul 1872 in Niederstocken, Bern, Switzerland. I've always thought this was a Swiss recipe since it was from "Grandma Schwendiman" but Mom informs me today that while it could have come from her Swiss mother-in-law, Ethel was also very creative herself, or she could have just found it in a newspaper. Mom doesn't really know. But I do know that she often made them.

I have this one picture of me with Grandma Schwendiman. She is on the left. Me and Mom are in the middle, and my Grandmother Dana (Grandma Schwendiman's granddaughter) is on the right. Unfortunately, Grandmother Dana's mother Nama (Viola) wasn't here for this picture even though she was alive. I would have had a five generation picture. Can't complain though. Happy to have this one.

Here is the recipe:

1 pint Cottage Cheese,
1 cup Sour Cream
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 beaten eggs.

Mix together and cook like pancakes on a hot griddle.

My kids love these for dinner. They are great just with butter and maple syrup. But they are especially good with strawberries, raspberries or bananas on them. Or you can cook the raspberries right into them by putting a few on each pancake when you first put them on the griddle (before you flip them.)

Mom says I can't share Grandma Schwendiman's recipe for egg cake, chili sauce or honey candy because they are family secrets. Grandma Schwendiman and Nama left strict instructions that they were not to be shared outside the family. Mom says that in those days a woman's identity was wrapped up in how good of cook they were and these women wanted to secure a great identity for their daughters I guess. Being the daughter of two home economics teachers (Mom and my Dad's mother) I've never worried about being a good cook. But I have a couple of recipies to fall back on just in case. You won't see them on this blog. You'll have to come visit. Let me know when you are coming and I'll have some ready for you.